Treating Lung Cancer

As a smoker, being diagnosed with lung cancer would be devastating. Yet, quitting smoking is far from started. Considering that most lung cancer diagnosis' are detected in late stages, as of now, I could have it and not even know it. I do not show any signs or symptoms, but that is no guarantee. Since Lung Cancer treatments most often depend on the type of cancer and the stage of the cancer, I would have to go through testing to determine the type and stage is determined through biopsies and/or chest X-rays, and/or CT scans. That is when doctors form treatment plans specific for each individual patient.

Since I have medical insurance most of the procedures would be covered, but I would still have to pay a percentage. Surgery would be the first request. Surgery is usually used for a tumors that have not spread to other parts of the body or early stages of lung cancer. There are factors used to determine if it is a possibility, including age and other medical conditions that can prevent using this method. "Some tumors are inoperable (cannot be removed by surgery) because of their size or location", as stated by Temple Lung Center. Patients most be aware that "even if a tumor is removed from the lung, cancer cells may still be present in nearby tissue or elsewhere in the body". So that means, even though I am 32 years old, and have no other health concerns, I may still have cancer cells somewhere else.

That is where Radiation comes in. A treatment that sounds very scary to me. Yet I still do not put the cigarettes down. Radiation, is used as a primary treatment, before and after surgery, treatments costing up to $50,000. As reported in Radiology Info, radiology is used in these ways:

* Before surgery to shrink the tumor

* After surgery to eliminate any cancer cells that remain in the treated area

* To treat lung cancer that has spread to the brain or other areas of the body and can help to relieve some of the symptoms it causes such as shortness of breath

If any of the cancer has spread, I would be looking at serveral treatments, including Radiation therapy and chemotherapy which are often used hand in hand, expecially when surgery is not an option. As described by Temple Lung Center, "Most chemotherapy drugs are either injected or administered as a pill, allowing them to enter the bloodstream and spread throughout the body" Chemotherapy is used most often if the cancer has spread to a patients lymphnodes. Small cell lung cancer responds to chemotherapy most often. Chemotherapy can start at $300 (less expensive drug) up to $30,000 as stated in Arthemia Online, depending on the dosage and length of time using it.

In some cases doctors may do a Lobectomy, which means the doctor will remove the entire lobe of the lung. A segmental resection or wedge resection may be used if a lobectomy can't be done, according to Radiology Info, this means the doctor will remove a "small portion of surrounding lung tissue". If these methods do not work, a Pneumonectomy may be done, which means the doctor will remove the entire lung.

Clinical Trials and Researchers have been testing new methods to providing treatment for lung cancer patients.
Something I myself would be interested in using, considering the life expectantcy of a person diagnosed with lung cancer if very short. Here are a few newer treatments that are available.

*Less invasive surgeries and smaller incision are providing shorter recovery stays. Video Assisted Surgeries is one of these types of surgeries.

*Monoclonal antibody therapy which targets specific cells.

*Immunotherapy uses drugs that may help the immune system control the cancer.

*Gene therapy healthy gene cells are inserted into the cancer cells.

Even after doing all this research on Lung Cancer, and knowing that in most cases it can be prevented if I stopped smoking and stopped going around people that smoke, I still smoked 4 cigarettes while writing this article.

Sources:

Amit Bhawani, http://www.amitbhawani.com/health/cost-of-chemotherapy-treatments/, Arthemia

http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=lungcancer&bhcp=1, Radiology Info

http://pulmonary.templehealth.org/content/treating_lung_cancer.htm, Temple Lung Center

http://www.homeomedica.com/treatment.php?tid=12, HomeoMedica

Bets Davis, MFA, http://health.yahoo.com/lungcancer-overview/lung-cancer-topic-overview/healthwise--tm1346.html, Yahoo Health

Peterson Bran, http://howcancer.blogspot.com/2009/05/effective-ways-to-fight-lung-cancer.html, How to Treat Cancer

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/11/051103082416.htm, Science Daily

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monoclonal_antibody_therapy, Wikipedia